The Sea Traveler
by Sue-Drae
Summary: After a brutal preemptive strike, survivors of Uzushio struggle to escape the ruins of their island nation as the Second Shinobi War begins. Leading her people to their steady ally Konoha, new master Uzumaki Suki finds herself conflicted with her desire to protect her people and protect her new friends, the Sannin. But danger lurks in the shadows of the Leaf. Eventual Jiraiya/OC
1. Prologue

A/N:

Plot bunny attack. Sorry. I had to get this finished and out of my head before I could even _think _about any other stories.

Blanket Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto and, by this story's completion (seeing as it's already all typed up) will not own Naruto or being making any sort of money off of this little project of mine.

* * *

I hummed happily, lazily tracing the ancient sealing array on the floor beneath me. I would have to labor over this seal in just a few short weeks, but for now I could simply enjoy its complexity.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a familiar voice said close behind me. I nodded slowly, turning to face the man who had been my shishou since I first began my apprenticeship on my seventh birthday ten years ago. Uzumaki Kizu looked past me to the sealing array with a look I rarely saw on his face. There was a softness in his pale brown eyes that I hardly ever got to see, even as his student, that forced me look past the extensive scarring covering much of his face. He was once a handsome man, I knew, but he had been caught on the wrong side of a vicious attack. It had been a case of mistaken identity and friendly fire, if I had heard the story correctly. Kizu did not hate the Konoha shinobi who had burned him so harshly, though. Kizu always said to learn from one's mistakes. He did, and even changed his name to acknowledge the mistake he made but would not repeat. "This sealing array, the All Seal, is the secret to our village's fuinjutsu. It is this array, discovered generations ago, that keeps the lifeblood of our village flowing through our veins. It gives us longer life, a stronger will, and a fiercer ambition above all others."

I knew the story as every other apprentice did. When the first Uzumakis found this island, they discovered this array, carved deep into a slab of rock. They took the slab and moved it to the site of the foundation to Uzushiogakure, building the village around it. They didn't notice, at least at first, the energy that seeped from the massive seal. With years, though, they began to notice themselves changing, but they could still not understand the changes that took place, the changes that made their bodies stronger against harm, their elders and children safer from the diseases plaguing the nearby villages. According to legend, it continued that way until the founder of the current era of Uzushio shinobi, Uzumaki Kaishi, sat before the seal and stared at its sloping angles, interlocking patterns, and complex symbols for six days, entranced by the intricacies of the array and unable to look away. On the seventh day, when he could finally avert his eyes from it, he saw the world with new eyes, able to understand, at last, all of the changes that had happened to his people. He was the first man, since the Sage of Six Paths, to wield the power of fuinjutsu.

When Kaishi took leadership of the village after the death of his father, he began instructing the young of the village to understand the mechanics of fuinjutsu. Since then, it has been tradition for each apprentice to aim to understand the seal. It took most apprentices days or even weeks to understand the array but, when they did, they could be fully recognized as masters.

Since the days of Kaishi, the All Seal was moved out of the village. Instead of being located in the village's center, it was relocated to a more remote and guarded stone shrine. The shrine, placed on a low mountaintop overlooking the village, was shaped into a large rotunda with a wide oculus located directly above the All Seal, allowing light to illuminate the seal. Seals carved into the stone around the oculus absorbed rainwater where it was transferred into pipes worked into the stone that carried it to the ground so that water couldn't erode the array that gave so much to Uzushio. Everyone living within Uzushio's walls had visited the shrine at one point or another. Some went to the All Seal to pray, some to mourn, and some to welcome new life.

"It will soon be your turn to look to the seal," Kizu continued in a low voice. "... You have made your clan proud," he said with a small smile. I returned the smile easily before looking back towards the seal.

"I haven't finished yet, Shishou."

Feeling the air shift behind me, I ducked, just in time to avoid the strike Kizu sent at the back of my head. I was about to comment on how slow he seemed before a kick I hadn't noticed him deliver sent me stumbling towards the floor. Turning my head, I glared at him while he laughed.

* * *

I walked through the gauntlet of masters to the entrance to the Shrine where Kizu was waiting to give me the last words he would give as my master. As I walked up to face him, I tried to count the number of masters present. If I was right, it seemed that nearly everyone had come out to see me and, hopefully, to greet me as one of them when my time before the All Seal was ended.

"I would wish you luck, but you don't need it," Kizu smiled wryly. I bowed my head, hiding my own smile. To my surprise, my shishou moved his hand to my chin, forcing my head up so that his eyes could meet mine. "You have grown, Suki. And I know that you will only continue to grow."

I knew it was true. I was something far more than the small child he first met, desperate to prove herself to her clansmen. Gone was the self consciousness, the hesitancy, and the second guessing of that child. Uzumaki Suki was now a proud kunoichi of Uzushiogakure, one of its rising jounin, and soon to be the youngest master- if all went well- in over thirty years.

Even knowing that, it was hard to not to notice as the heavy doors closed shut with a very solid thunk that echoed with a soft finality. The next time those doors would be opened, I would either be a master or I would be on death's door. Once the ceremony's begun, the doors could only be opened for me to leave after finishing, or if I was in desperate need of medical attention. It didn't happen often, but it had happened to apprentices in the past. Being so close to the life-giving seal for such a long time meant that you could survive with neither food or water, but it did take its toll after too long.

Taking a deep breath, I walked towards the sealing array carved into the stone that I, just days ago, had traced aimlessly. Now, I had only one goal in mind: understanding.

I settled myself in front of the stone and waited.

As I stared into the carved array, the grey marble slowly came alive with color. If I blinked, it would disappear just as quickly, though. The longer I stared, the more vibrant the colors became.

The array wasn't a single entity.

Interwoven in a delicate pattern were dozens of seals that all worked together to provide... I couldn't even put names to all of their purposes. Some of them were protection wards I myself had studied. Others seemed intertwined with the natural chakra permeating the island. Some attracted possible allies and food sources, other repelled fierce predators and enemies. It was so _complex_.

* * *

Cautiously, I moved my hand towards the interwoven colors and patterns. The colors cringed away from my touch for a moment, as an animal might, before relaxing and moving slowly back to their original position. The living array embraced my hand and a gasp escaped my mouth at the sheer life contained in the carving.

It was amazing, and so warm. I could _feel_ as the seal did. It was as if the seal was connected to each life on the island. As different colors came into contact with my skin, there was a new rush of information and feeling, an influx of emotion that wasn't at all mine but also deeply connected to me at the same time. I knew in some innate corner of my mind how many people were on the island, and where they were. I could feel animals moving about their daily business. A squirrel foraging for food, a fox bringing home a dead rabbit to a den full of hungry kits, a bird calling to its mate, a fish swimming an ancestral route upstream. The plants rejoiced in the sun's warmth, throwing out buds at a million cells a minute in an unseen flurry of motion.

And then it disappeared.

I fell backwards, my breathing heavy as my eyes unfocused. I forced myself to blink, staring back at the sealing array. The colors I had seen so vividly and brightly were all but gone, but still present. They throbbed with a quiet and muted life, beating faster than a heart but all but silent at the same time.

Is this what Kaishi saw? Is this the understanding that he wanted others to see?

I placed my hand back on the array experimentally. The colors rose up under my fingertips once more, now greeting me as an old friend. I swallowed, hard, closing my eyes as I allowed the seal to show me what it needed to. My hand shifted away from the center of the seal and, even with my eyes closed, I could see the island from a bird's eye view. What drew my attention more than the whirlpools surrounding our proud island nation, however, was the unfamiliar ships headed straight our way. I increased my concentration on those ships until I could reach only one conclusion.

I broke away from the seal at once and, ignoring the feeling of loss that dully began to ache in my chest, I ran towards the door. With a burst of strength, I threw the doors open. The gathered masters, a hundred and nineteen total, awaiting me shifted, ready to congratulate me and welcome me into their ranks. Or, at least that is what I presumed. I didn't give them the opportunity.

"An attack is approaching from the northwest. They've nearly all passed through the border of whirlpools barricading the island."

"An attack?" one of my many semi-distant cousins, Uzumaki Yuriko, asked. She was one of the youngest masters, about twenty-four years old, and had only gotten her own mastery eight or nine months ago. Even so, she already had an apprentice, an aspiring sealer by the name of Aokawa Rei, my late aunt's only daughter. She was a sweet girl, only five years old, but it was already obvious that she had prodigious talent. After her parents' death, I adopted her, bringing her into the Uzumaki clan and allowing her to get the early training that she deserved. I had been her sole caretaker for nearly three years, since I was fourteen.

"An attack. Ships, seventeen that I saw, all loaded with shinobi. There must be nearly three hundred battle-ready shinobi, heading straight for our western ports. And we aren't facing just one adversary. I identified hitai-ates from Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Amegakure."

Kizu came straight to me, laying his hands on my shoulder.

"Are you positive of what you saw?" he asked in a voice that promised danger.

"Completely."

Someone behind me cleared their throat and I froze, turning quickly and kneeling before the man. The masters around me kneeled as well, leaving only the old man in front of me standing.

"Leader-sama," I greeted quietly.

"Suki-san. You saw these invaders?"

"Hai."

"And you are sure that Suna has betrayed us?" We'd had a tentative peace with Suna since its foundation. Even so, it was entirely plausible to have them betray us. Uzushio was both famous and notorious for our masters of fuinjutsu.

"Can you think of another reason for seventeen unexpected ships approaching our shores, each loaded with shinobi outfitted for war?"

"Very well..." Uzumaki Taeru acknowledged wearily. He sighed softly before straightening, transforming from the weak old man he had resembled to the untrained eye and into our village's steadfast leader. "It is well that our masters have already been assembled. Those of you with apprentices, return to the village and alert your apprentices to the coming danger. Have all apprentices genin and low chuunin level escort all civilians to the safe houses in the Whirlpool Catacombs. All other chuunin level apprentices are to gather the village records, the clan archives, the jutsu libraries, and summonings and see that they are safely sealed and stored in the Uzumaki Vault until further notice and then join in the civilian guard. All jounin level apprentices and masters with apprentices are to secure the village as best as possible. The rest of you will be with me. We will meet the oncoming enemy as they arrive. This is our island; we know the land and the waters surrounding it better than any invading force. We will drive the forces away or we will strike them down without mercy."

"Uzumaki-sama, what will you have me do?" I asked in as strong a voice as I could muster. The man looked down at me before glancing away.

"Your duty is to the All Seal. Transfer the array into the Uzumaki Vault and guard the seal from within the vault along with an apprentice of your choice. It will be up to you and whoever you choose to ensure that the array, and everything else stored within the vault, remains undamaged. You are not to leave the vault unguarded, even if the invasion breaks through our walls."

"Leader-sama!" one of the masters, a man I recognized as Chusei Santo, exclaimed almost incredulously. "The All Seal is the heartbeat of this nation-"

"Suki-san, were you able to see the seal's energies after you separated yourself from it? When you were not touching the array?"

"I- Of course, I could," I responded quickly. Santo's eyes widened ever so slightly as Taeru chuckled with a timbre that was not entirely comforting. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"The All Seal is very selective in who may see its mechanizations. That is why not every apprentice can even begin to understand. Even fewer can continue to understand, to learn. Santo-san, do you now have any doubts that Suki-san will be unable to protect the All Seal?"

"No, sir."

Without further questions, the leader took one last look around his strongest sealers and gave a final nod, dismissing all present. My only goodbye to my shishou was an exchanged nod before he too vanished, following the others towards the western shore. Taeru-sama stayed behind, his eyes focusing on me intently. I resisted the urge to shift my weight under his ancient gaze.

"I will not stay long, not with the invasion mounting, but there is something you must know. Since the time of Uzumaki Kaishi, the village leader has always been a true master, someone who is able to see the All Seal's energies without touching the array. I have been waiting for many years for the next true master to come, just as every other leader before me has, and now you are here. If I fall today, it will be up to you to lead the remnants of Uzushio even if it is just you and the apprentice you choose. Do not doubt yourself if that is the case. You are strong, stronger than you know, or the All Seal would not have chosen you.

"But that was not what I needed to tell you. In the Uzumaki Vault, in the annex in which the All Seal is to be protected, there is a single scroll. In it, you will find everything that you will need to know, assuming that I can not tell it to you myself."

His pale brown eyes burning into mine, I watched as he lifted his hands and unfastened a chain around his neck. When he pulled the necklace away, I recognized it immediately. It was a very simple piece, comprised of a thin silver chain and a single charm, but it was the charm that made it so important. It was remarkably similar to the necklace famously worn by the Shodai Hokage. Instead of sky blue, the central crystal was a matrix of orange and red that swirled, flickering like flames in the sunlight. The two beads on either side of the crystal were made of jet and carefully carved to perfectly replicate the Uzumaki spiral that had been taken on as the village's symbol. The necklace was a gift to Taeru-sama by the Shodai Hokage himself when the villages had become allies. It was representative of his position as the village leader and, as he pressed it into my hand, representative of mine.

The air shifted around me and Taeru-sama was gone, following after his sealers.

I glanced back at the shrine that housed the All Seal. If the approaching forces knew what the All Seal could do... Their acquiring the seal would mean destruction of Uzushio. Without the All Seal, the island would cease to flourish.

* * *

It was much easier to speak of transporting the All Seal to the Uzumaki Vault. It was another matter to actually move it.

Even aside from the countless warding and protective seals around the All Seal's array, the slab on which it was carved was massive. It took all of my strength to even force the slab to shift in its place. The apprentice couldn't help me, as I had chosen selfishly. I had chosen the girl I'd adopted into my family as my sister, Aokawa Rei. As a child, she was too young to fully understanding what was happening to our land, let alone the subtleties involving the All Seal. To keep her busy, I sent her to collect the ceremonial scroll designed for the All Seal's transport and protection. The arrays built into that scroll were amongst the most complicated fuinjutsu in existence, only comparable to the All Seal itself. The scroll's design was based off of Uzumaki Kaishi's work, a level of fuinjutsu mastery that has only been matched by four others since his death.

It was easier to move the seal for me than it would be for others, seeing as I could physically see which seals were integrated directly into the main array and which seals were added later. I didn't dare cut the All Seal completely free from the added seals, as many of them were the remnants of natal blessings, a process that helped speed the changes the All Seal made in our people. It gave our people, civilians and shinobi alike, a stronger tolerance for pain and higher stamina. If I cut free all of those seals, I would cripple our forces just before the oncoming siege.

By the time I was ready to actually move the seal, Rei had brought the large scroll back from the crypts beneath the Shrine. She seemed shaken from the trip, but it was understandable. It was in that crypt where we kept the ashes of our dead and the hitai-ate plates of our fallen shinobi. Though the ashes were all sealed safely into black corpse scrolls, I knew that the experience could not have been comfortable for my little cousin.

"Roll out the scroll right here," I said quickly, gesturing towards the ground beside the sealing array. Rei obeyed swiftly but I noticed that her eyes never ventured far from the ground as she did so. I couldn't spare much time to comfort the girl, though. I was given strict orders by Taeru-sama, orders that I would follow to the letter.

* * *

A/N:

If it wasn't quite obvious given the summary which (as most are) was a rather terrible summary, this story starts just at the beginning of the Second Great Shinobi War. Suki, for the record, is about two years younger than the Sannin. I'll give a blanket disclaimer that there isn't a whole lot of fighting going on this story, mostly because I actually am rubbish at writing fight scenes, but you'll see bits and pieces of Suki's strength. For now, just assume that she is a highly talented Uzumaki who has been trained into the ground by her shishou since she was four-ish years old. Expect hints to impressive abilities but none will be two outlandish, seeing as she's had thirteen years to hone her skills to a scary razor sharp edge.

I really love the concept of Uzushiogakure being this once powerful and beautiful village that was destroyed all in one fell swoop. I think that the idea that nothing is infallible is fun to play with and hopefully that will come through as the story progresses.

Lastly, apologies again if I take forever in uploading this. This story is actually completely finished as of March 4th at 12:53 AM. Yep. There's that damn plot bunny keeping me from getting any sleep. So, basically, this story is twenty chapters long (including this prologue and an epilogue) and is pretty much ready to go. Don't expect

MY POINT THOUGH (and I do have one): If it's been over a week since I've updated and you're getting sick of it, please just shoot me a pm about it and I'll get to it. Just don't be rude about it. Ya'll know how busy people can get and I'd rather not, after having a bad day, see an angry pm about my laziness and then feel petty enough to ignore it. Me ignoring reminders to post means no new chapters... So... Basically... If I forget, just remember that shit happens so please don't take it out on my poor memory/time management skills.

Until next chapter!

Sue


	2. Chapter 1

A/N:

Two chaptes on the first day of posting? Yeah, I have nothing better to do. Hope you still like it :)

* * *

The silence after the battle was only broken by my own ragged breathing as I ran through the lightless tunnels.

Not for the first time, I scanned the darkness of the Whirlpool Catacombs, knowing that I needed to get to the surface. I traced the seemingly nonsensical symbols carved along the walls, illuminated only by the pale green light given off by the lichen growing all throughout the catacombs, to discern my location. _The fastest way from here would be..._

In moments, I was running through the tunnels once more. I knew my way around these tunnels blindfolded, just like every other self-respecting shinobi of Uzushio. One never knew when they'd need to get through the catacombs, after all.

I was in the sunshine once more in minutes, just outside of the village's external wall. Seeing the state of the once proud wall, I inhaled sharply, forced to remember. The wall was now lying in rubble.

My jaw clenched almost painfully.

"Suki-nee?" Rei asked softly from my back. I relaxed my muscles, shushing her softly.

"I need you to do something for me, Rei-amai... Go back to the Vault and lock yourself in there until I come back for you."

"No!" she protested immediately. I lowered her to the ground, turning and kneeling to meet her eyes. She was biting her lip, her hands balled into tiny fists. I studied her for a long moment before sighing softly, closing my eyes tiredly.

"I'm sorry, amai." Before she could react, I formed a short sequence of hand seals and rested my hand on the small girl's neck. As soon as my skin made contact with hers, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed sideways. I caught her before she hit the ground, wrapping my arms around her small form briefly. I lifted her up onto one hip, awkwardly forming hand seals around her. With a practiced bite to my thumb, a plume of smoke rose up in front of me.

From the smoke, I heard a groan.

"Can't you ever summon me outside of this forsaken rainforest!" a deep voice grumbled. I tried to kill the wry smile that made its way to my lips, but it was stubborn.

"Koukyo-kun, you are a frog. You can't survive very long away from water," I reminded him tensely. The smoke cleared to reveal a large frog nearly as tall as I was. He was almost completely a golden honey color except for a black slash down his face running from beneath his right eye to his jawline.

"Doesn't mean I like rainforests, tadpole. Every time you summon me here, I have some upstart jaguar or something try their luck," he complained before glancing around. He sobered up immediately at the sight of the ruined wall. "Invasion?"

"Suna, Ame, Iwa."

"Need me to bash some heads?" he asked threateningly. I shook my head.

"Only if they get in your way. I want you to bring Rei back to the Uzumaki Vault. You remember the sealing arrays protecting it?"

"Of course I do... Can the kid survive my skin? Otherwise this will get a lot more complicated," Koukyo hummed. As a poison dart frog, Koukyo secreted an alkaloid poison known to down a grown man if he so much as brushed the frog. It was very convenient in battle, as the slightest touch could spell death, and in trap making, as the batrachotoxins would remain potent for up to a year after leaving the frog's skin, but it was a pain to desensitize myself to it. I lost track of how many days I spent living vicariously through shadow clones because I was voluntarily close to death due to my summons' poisons.

"Her body can fight it, but not as efficiently as mine can..." I murmured, fishing around the bag on my waist. Finding a blank piece of paper, I bit my thumb once more and got to work, writing out a complex seal. When I was finished, I pumped as much chakra as I dared into the seal, causing my blood to almost bubble like lava before it cooled and dried.

"Is that what I think it is?" Koukyo asked, impressed. I nodded.

"Time released chakra storage seal. I finished it two weeks ago," I informed him idly as I stuck the paper to Rei's chest, just above her heart. The sealing paper stuck to her skin like it was glue and, with a dull glow, began to work. "Okay. My chakra should increase the efficiency with which her body rejects the poison, but with how deadly your batrachotoxins are, I can only guarantee twenty minutes. If you're not back by the Vault by then, get to a defendable location and watch out for her until she wakes up. Get her to the Vault as soon as you can. She'll be safe there."

"You're going into the village?"

"I need to make sure that there is no one else."

"Careful out there, tadpole. If there are no more Uzushio nin, there are plenty more of everyone else."

"I know, Koukyo-kun... I'll meet up with you at the Vault as soon as I can," I promised. Not wasting anymore time, I slipped Rei onto his back, kissing her forehead lightly before darting over the ruined wall and towards the main village.

* * *

The fighting must have been intense if the ruins of Uzushio's proud stone buildings were any testament to the siege that had taken place over three tense days. Those had been three days in which I could do nothing but grit my teeth as I heard the fighting above our heads. I still had my orders to follow, though it was all I could do to keep myself from jumping into the fray.

Lying amongst the ruins now were bodies that I was forced to recognize. I still had blank scrolls in the bag I had taken from the Vault to make the proper transport scrolls, but I was forced to use my blood as ink to write the seals out. I left the enemy dead where they lay. The victor could recover their own deceased. I wouldn't make it easy for them.

I worked my way through the village, slowly travelling towards the Uzumaki district, knowing that I would need more blank scrolls to finish the final clearing of the village. There were weapons to be salvaged, paperwork to be filed away, and-

My thoughts and my heart stopped in tandem as my eyes froze on the scene before me.

The village center was strewn with bodies that shouldn't have been there. Masters who had gone to defend the borders were thrown unceremoniously in lines with apprentices and civilians that had been caught in the fighting. The lifeless body closest to me stared up unseeingly at the sky, clouded eyes shining from his scarred visage.

_K-Kizu-shishou._

Swallowing hard, I knelt at his side, trying to avoid staring at the deep slashes in his side and chest that must have caused his demise. Breathing deeply, I gently lowered his eyelids before removing his hitai-ate, leaning down, and lightly kissing his brow. I withdrew a kunai and, fully aware of the danger of staying still for too long, inscribed my shishou's name on the plate that had identified him as one of my comrades.

_Thank you, shishou... Thank you for trusting me with your knowledge and including me in your trust. I will never forget._

I forced myself to stand and to move along the line, cataloguing who hadn't made it out of the battle while keeping my senses on high alert. No Uzushio shinobi would have laid their own dead so carelessly on the ground. This was the work of invaders, meaning that there must have been enough enemies to survive that they felt secure within Uzushio's fallen walls.

With each shinobi I identified, I added another metal plate to my growing collection, carving into the hitai-ates of the shinobi I recognized. Traditions, even in death and in the destruction of the village, were in place for a reason. Though these plates would not be displayed beside the All-Seal in the Shrine like the previous dead of Uzushio, they would not be left nameless. The funeral blessing called for conditions that I could still provide, sealing the bodies and hitai-ate plates away until I could burn the bodies and find a proper home for the hitai-ate plates.

I continued with my morose work. By the time I had reached the end of the line of bodies, all but two of the masters had been accounted for. I had a sizeable collection of hitai-ate plates. I had run out of blanks scrolls before I had gotten through half of the line, so I had to seal the bodies into small squares of sealing paper until I could transfer the bodies into corpse scrolls. Until then, the bodies I stored within them would be safe from harm and decay.

Taeru-sama was amongst the dead and, after I finished carving his name into his hitai-ate plate, my hand drifted towards the crystal necklace hanging around my neck, where it had been safe during the battle.

There were almost two hundred dead, line up toe to toe in that square. The masters, over twenty of the oldest apprentices, and almost two dozen civilians. They were people who had been friends, or family of mine.

A soft thump sounded from some distance to my left and I tensed, one hand moving to the tanto slung across my back and the other moving to ensure that the All Seal's scroll was safe and secure. Another thump sounded and I recognized the sound immediately as footsteps. They grew closer as I pressed myself into the shadows of the rubble and I listened carefully.

The noise grew louder and shuffled, which I translated as not one approaching person, but at least two. They were unsteady, as if wounded or heavily burdened. I tensed, silently drawing a kunai as the figures approached.

From a dark alleyway came three figures. Seeing the three, I saw red and all I could hear was my own blood rushing in my ears as two foreign nin, both from Iwa, unceremoniously threw a woman, her wrists bound behind her, to the hard pavement. Without the smile on her face, I barely recognized the woman as Uzumaki Yuriko. All I could see was the lecherous grins on the men's faces. One of them drew a kunai and forced Yuriko to her knees, pulling the kunai to her neck and pressing it so hard to her skin that I could see a narrow line of blood begin to drip down her pale flesh. Yuriko, her eyes hard, did not make a sound.

Neither did I as I shot forward, all but gutting the man holding Yuriko before, using my momentum, whirling around and catching the other man in the lung with the bloodied kunai. He fell to the ground, giving a panicked gurgle as he drowned on his own blood.

"Suki!" Yuriko breathed, her voice surprised and relieved as I turned to face her.

"Yuriko-san," I murmured, kneeling down beside the woman. I drew a clean kunai and slipped it through her bindings, cutting her loose. "Thank Kami you're alive."

"What do you-" Her eyes wandered behind me, to see the large pile of black scrolls on the ground where I had been hiding in the shadows. "No..."

"The masters... The only one still unaccounted for is Karibi Shansa."

"Shansa took a trio of Iwa jounin over the northern cliffs," Yuriko informed me quietly. "The civilians, the apprentices-"

"If anyone's survived, they'd be in the Catacombs beneath the Uzumaki District. I was heading towards the district when I found the masters. Whoever was here had the bodies lined up toe to toe on the ground," I shivered.

"And Kizu-san...?" I shook my head to answer her question and Yuriko, after a long moment, nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "I'm sorry."

"He went down fighting, and I am still here to carry on his legacy. That's what he would have wanted." She glanced over her shoulder, one hand rubbing at her wrist, still red from the ropes.

"We need to move. Suna's contingent is going to move in at dawn according to those two," Yuriko said, gesturing to the dead men at our feet. I got to my feet as smoothly as I could and gathered up the black corpse scrolls.

"You're not in any condition to fight. Go with one of my clones and get to the civilians. We need to organize the survivors and get them to the Kaikou ports to begin evacuations."

"You don't know, do you?" Yuriko asked, her eyes pained. She glanced at the ground before looking back at me. "I guess you wouldn't. You've been in the Vault this whole time... I was sent to the boats, to oversee the civilian evacuation. The boats were burning when I got there. The civilians, the apprentices, the other masters... We were all sitting ducks."

"Then it means nothing..."

"What?"

I glanced down at the ground before holding the crystal necklace up for Yuriko to see. Her eyes widened ever so slightly.

"When?" she asked softly. I shook my head.

"Before he left to join the others at the shore. He said that the leader was always a true master, and that he had been waiting for one to appear and take his place. He said, in case he fell, that he wanted me to lead the survivors out."

"... The last true master to be chosen was Taeru-sama himself... You have only just begun to embrace your potential, Suki-san, as a kunoichi and a leader."

"The civilians, the other apprentices, the masters... What is left to be led?"

Unsure how to respond, Yuriko disappeared into one of the many entrances to the Whirlpool Catacombs. When she were out of sight, I moved the dead into the shadows where they wouldn't be seen. I doubted they would be missed for at least a few hours.

Clearing my thoughts, I made another dozen clones to help me sweep the village, not wanting to miss a body much more than I wanted to avoid seeing any of my friends dead. I would rather give my friends and comrades a proper send off than allow them to fall prey to enemy dissection. A shinobi's body was full of village secrets, and every Uzushio shinobi was peppered with seals of all sorts. For any of that to fall into enemy hands... It would be the straw to break the metaphorical camel's back.

* * *

A/N:

I feel like crying, actually. I didn't know at this point in the writing process what I was going to do and which characters I was going to push the most but, looking back at this, it's really kind of sad. You guys don't know how this ends... But I do... And it's not good.

That's a lie. It's _eventually_ a happy ending. But there's a lot of not-so happy things that happy in between... Like... A _lot_. I don't really do angst, so you can be the judge of how I manage to pull it off. As in, please judge it. Especially when we get in the chapter fifteen to sixteen range.

Hmm... More spoilers than usual but I think that's okay.

But that's it for today so go get some sleep. Actually... I'm going to go get some sleep. It's 1:17 now for me and I have to wake up at six o'clock and get to school for HSPA week. Ah, HSPAs... Probably the most basic and intellectually insulting standardized test I've ever taken- and mind you, I grew up taking the NJ ASKs through middle school.

Night :)

Sue

OOH! PS: IF ANY OF YOU ARE MORE ARTISTICALLY INCLINED (see: talented) THAN I AM, I WOULD SO LOVE ANY SCRIBBLY FANART. The cover will be my own scribbly fanart (would it still be called fanart if I'm the one coming up with the plot?) once I get around to drawing something that isn't complete rubbish and doesn't give away all of the major plot elements but for now it's my generic _look a shuriken!_ cover for Naruto fanfiction. And yes, that's my shuriken. I love it very dearly.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N:

I really need to go to sleep.

* * *

I entered the Uzumaki district with a heavy heart. Each time my clones had found someone, they had made another clone and dispelled themselves to convey the knowledge to me. When the search was finally complete, I was burdened with another twenty-six corpse scrolls. They had all been apprentices, eight of them only twelve or thirteen years old.

In the previous war, and in the warring period before that, there had been an unspoken rule amongst the nations and clans. If a fighter appeared to be fifteen or younger, they weren't killed. That was the rule of thumb. To kill an incoming generation of warriors was to cripple an entire nation in a way from which it could not recover and blacklist your own nation. No one liked the death of a child, even if that child was a thief and a murderer. Children, even in their least pure form, were still the hope of a new generation, a new dawn, a new era for a village. To have them cut down... That was a storm no sane leader wanted to weather.

Whoever had led this attack had made a single point in killing these apprentices. They intended to eradicate Uzushio so completely that no one could tell of the cruelties they'd committed. If they had their way, Uzushio would hardly be a rumor when they left our island nation.

It was sickening to think, with the attack on the civilians that Yuriko had told me of, that plan was already well in motion.

I walked through the district that had been my home for all my life. I had learned so much within the stone walls guarding it, from how to talk to how to throw a kunai. It was here that I first met my shishou, who had watched me train for almost a week before allowing me to be apprenticed under him. It was here that I had risen through the ranks of apprentices. It was here that I received the first half of the tattoo that would mark me as a master of Uzushio. The first half marked that I had completed my education. The second would have marked my understanding of the All Seal, a component I would never receive as only my master could grant me my mark. The first mark was identical to all others; the second was unique to each master and apprentice. It would incorporate what had been taught in the years they'd spent together. It was show the qualities of that apprentice and become their own personal crest. It was a crest I would never receive now.

I moved through the district quickly, unwilling to meet up with any other foreign ninja. My clones had met with a few more but, luckily, they hadn't been expecting an attack and fell quickly and quietly.

Familiar with the district as I was, I wasted no time in going into the homes of my friends and family and sealing what I could. I couldn't carry most of the mundane things, but I ensured that no one would benefit from ransacking the district. I took everything of value, weapons, and technique scrolls, though most of it had been transported out during the first wave of evacuations and likely destroyed with the attack on the civilians.

With a final trip to my own home, in which I packed away everything I thought was useful, and a hurried trip into Taeru-sama's offices to retrieve Uzushio's summoning contracts, I was finished and more than a little disgusted with my work.

That feeling abated just a little when I entered the catacombs and was granted with the image of the remaining apprentices. Most of them were injured, and some very severely, but a few had escaped the assault with little more than chakra exhaustion. More than that, they were alive. Twenty-three apprentices, with ages ranging from twelve to nineteen and ranked from level five to nine. Attention abruptly came to me but no one seemed particularly relieved to see me.

"Suki-chan!" a familiar voice rang out from the milling crowd. I gave a relieved sigh as a familiar redhead melted out of the crowd.

"Genki-kun," I greeted my twin brother, hugging him but pulling away immediately when he inhaled sharply. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"We were attacked, I thought you knew," he said dryly. I glared at him weakly. "What happened to you? Kaneda-shishou wouldn't say anything when he came back, only that there was an invasion headed our way."

"I understood the All Seal and it showed me the invasion force. I warned the other masters and we started to get the defenses readied."

"And where are they? The other masters?" My expression must have told him because the easy going smile that was always on his face, and already more than a little strained, disappeared completely. "Kaneda-shishou..."

"As far as I know, only Yuriko-san, Rei-chan, myself, and everyone here survived. Yuriko-san was sent to the civilians, but she was too late to save them... But that's not all..." I pulled the crystal necklace up once more so that Genki could see and his jaw dropped almost insultingly. I nodded tensely when he managed to drag his eyes back up to my face.

I looked around the apprentices once more, raising my voice.

"This isn't over yet! There are still remaining enemies who are waiting until dawn to sift through what's left of the village. They won't find anything useful, but that will buy us the time we need to get away. For now, we need to take care of everyone here or we'll all fall apart. I want everyone separated by injury severity! Chakra exhaustion and minor injuries, over there. Moderate to severe, but not life-threatening injuries, in that corner. Anything more severe, stay where you are. Anyone trained as a medic, get working. I have soldier pills and chakra seals if you need! Now move it!"

Silence reigned as no one moved. Genki growled lightly.

"Oi, you lot! She's got Taeru-sama's necklace, and you know what that means! Get moving or I'll kick your asses for insubordination against your commanding officer!"

The group shuffled around, complying slowly but surely and I mentally categorized the injuries as I made a note to thank Genki later. Not very many of them were dangerously hurt, but I didn't see a single apprentice with only chakra exhaustion. These apprentices fought, and fought hard.

* * *

In just a few hours, we were ready to move. I was surrounded by clones, most of them my own, helping people walk or carrying their wounded comrades. When we did start moving towards the south, it was a slow but steady effort. As long as the invaders didn't get access to the catacombs, we would be fine. If they did, it was more likely than not that they would get lost in the tunnels and, if we ever ran into them, too disoriented to fight properly.

Instead of leading the apprentices towards the evacuation rendezvous sites, I lead them straight to the Uzumaki Vault. For now, the Vault and everything within it was my priority.

"Follow me quickly," I ordered, standing before the narrow tunnel that led to the Uzumaki Vault. The guards were nowhere in sight, having joined the fighting topside and fallen against the enemy. Biting back a sigh, I strode forward through the narrow passageway until it opened into a large cavern. Directly across from the entrance were two massive stalagmites, standing guard over a thick metal door located just between them.

I approached the door without hesitation and checked the seals guarding the door for tampering. None of them had been touched. The apprentices milled about behind me, shuffling into the cavern.

My hands flew through hand seals as I gathered the chakra necessary to break the security seals. The black ink decorating the grey steel faded away as the seals lost their power and, with the final seal, I bit my thumb and ran it against the blood seal. The seal flickered red, absorbing the blood I'd run across its array, before melting into grey just like all of the other ward seals.

The room was almost exactly as I remembered it from my infrequent journeys here: small and crowded. Records of all sorts were stored in shelves and filing cabinets all over the room. Village documents- retired shinobi files, trade routes, treaties, and the like- were all gathered and stored along the east wall. The northern wall was dedicated to fuinjutsu scrolls and theory while the western was home to the ninjutsu library our shinobi had gathered over the decades, meticulously organized by element and ranking. The center of the vault floor was littered with glass cases, each covered with a light layer of dust, hiding its contents despite the gentle light given off by the glowing lichen. Even so, I knew that each case held weapons unique to our heros of old. These records went all the way back to Uzumaki Kaishi's reign. In fact, his kusarigama was in one of the cases, sealed safely in a scroll labeled with a vivid red marker.

The only difference from my previous visits was the small figure flying forward to greet me. Small arms wrapped around me as I was nearly knocked to the floor. I rocked back onto my heels, immediately pulling the small girl into my arms.

"It's okay, amai-chan... I'm here... I told you I would be back, wouldn't I?" I smiled softly as Rei tightened her grip around my neck. I glanced up to see Yuriko approaching us, flanked by Koukyo. "Thank you, Koukyo, for keeping her safe."

"Don't thank me. It was your friend here that found both of us," he said, nodding towards Yuriko. She smiled gently, bowing her head.

After assuring myself that nothing had been taken, I went to the northern wall and retrieved the largest blank scroll I could find, one that was only slightly smaller than the scroll used to store the All Seal. I unfurled it and, gathering ink from the wall, got to work at sealing everything away.

Once everything I could reasonably transport was sealed away, I moved to the hidden door that led to the most important artifact of all- the All Seal.

Opening the door, I found myself once again in a small and musty room that belied the importance of the two objects held within it. I walked forward quickly and softly, approaching the single glass case in the room's center. I carefully removed the seals guarding the case and lifted the glass, taking the large All Seal scroll and the small scroll that Taeru had told me of. I secured the All Seal's scroll onto my back, ensuring that it would not fall or slip, and tucked the small scroll into my obi. I couldn't read it, not yet, but it wasn't leaving my person. Those two scrolls, even separate, were worth more than my life. I couldn't lose them.

After gathering what I had sealed from the main Vault, I left the room behind, carefully resealing it so that no one would know I had been there. If Iwa, Suna, or Ame ever find this cavern, they could try for years to break into the empty room. They would fail, of course, but they could always try.

* * *

A/N:

Like... Hot DAMN I need to go to sleep. WHAT DOES HOT DAMN EVEN MEAN THOUGH? Does the temperature of the damn really alter its meaning so strongly? Would a freezing damn be better or worse? Can I have a mild damn? What about a room temperature damn?

I FEEL LIKE I'M NIGHT BLOGGING AND THIS ISN'T EVEN TUMBLR.

But speaking of Tumblr, I still have as many Oscars as Leonardo Di Caprio. (See: zero).

Time check: 1:38 AM

OFF TO SLEEP (or post the fourth chapter of the night )

Just realized that everyone who has me on their 'alerts' list is gonna be sooooo pissed... "This bitch doesn't update the one story I actually read, but she puts up three chapters a night on some ninja crap? AW HELL NAH!"

Or at least that's how I think of most of my HP readers. Or Inheritance. Or X-Men. Or Percy Jackson. Or- God, I write too much fanfiction. I need a life.. Yeah... That's what I need... And sleep...

This A/N is getting too long for me to be happy with it... SO G'NIGHT. OR I'LL SEE IN YOU LIKE TEN MINUTES WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER.

Sue

PS: FIRST FAVORITE ALREADY! O.O There are other people awake now... That's... actually surprising. Hope you liked the chapter, Vallavarayan! Thanks a bunch!


	4. Chapter 3

A/N:

Yeah, so a really very short chapter. Oh wells...

* * *

Before the invasion, there were just over five hundred people living in Uzushio, civilians and shinobi alike. Now, with our apprentices, masters, and the surviving civilians, there were twenty-six of us. The Suterusu had been annihilated. The masters, once numbering almost one hundred and twenty, were down to two sole survivors.

It was a harsh reality to see the small and broken crowd gathered together in the grottoes that would have been the shelters for the civilians and know that that was all that remained of my village.

I climbed my way to the top of a small outcropping, so that I could see everyone.

"Listen up!" I called. The noise level dropped down only marginally and I scowled, raising my voice even more. "Shut up, all of you!"

_That_ worked. I swallowed as everyone's eyes turned to me before gathering my thoughts.

"Good. Now stay quiet until I'm finished, if you can manage... This morning, as some of you may know, I went to get my mastery. I sat before the All Seal, which now is safely sealed in the scroll you now see, and looked at it until I understood. The All Seal showed me the coming invasion, and allowed our masters, our friends, and our families to prepare themselves for the worst...

"Taeru-sama ordered me to do one thing before he and the others left to defend our shores, an effort that proved to be a Sisyphean task. He told me to protect the All Seal, and then..." My voice failed for just a moment before I pushed onwards. "He passed his will onto me! Everything he worked for and everything that was never finished, is now in my hands and I refuse to let him down! He told me to keep the remnants of this village together, to lead it, and I will do so even if it kills me.

"We have just suffered a tragedy. I won't hide from it, I won't downgrade it. The force that did this, they have achieved their victory. They accomplished their goal in destroying our village. But a village is more than the buildings inside of the wall. We have survived to continue the legacies and carry out the dreams of the men and women who died today. It will take us time to recover from this assault. We will not bounce back in a few days, or a few months. This wound will take years to begin to mend, and even then it will leave a scar. But our scars remind us that the past did happen, and they ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes we've made!

"But to live until these wounds heal, we need to abandon the home we've had since the days before the warring period. We are forced to retreat so that we can treat our injured, to mourn our dead, and live another day. We will find a new home where we can rest until we've regained the strength to remind Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Amegakure why even the force of three villages _combined_ was not enough to put us down! We are the village that needed the threat of three villages to even consider leaving our home! We are the village feared and honored for our mastery in fuinjutsu! We are the village that Konohagakure turned to when all seemed lost in the Great Shinobi War and we are the village that won that war for our allies! We are Uzushiogakure! And we have not fallen!"

Silence fell. Glances were exchanged, whispered murmurs passing from person to person, until Yuriko separated herself from the crowd and bowed deeply to me.

"Your orders, Uzumaki-sama?"

I surveyed the small crowd once more before turning to Yuriko.

"We will leave the island in two days. Gather everything of value, supplies, and weapons, and ensure that it is stored. Everything we cannot bring is to be destroyed beyond use. I do not want those vultures gaining any more from us."

"But where are we going, neechan?" Rei asked with a small frown. I looked over at her with a tight smile.

"To the one village we've always been able to rely on." My hand crept up to Taeru-sama's old necklace. "To Konoha."

"How do you intend for us to get off of this island?" Genki asked, stepping close to me after I stepped down from my pedestal. He kept his voice low, but his eyes glanced around warily. "There are no boats at the ready. We have injured, some fairly severely. Not to mention that most of us left are chuunin in rank. We'd be sitting ducks for any well placed ambush."

"We're shinobi and Yuriko and I are the best sealers we've got. We will be able to make enough chakra storage seals to last as long as it requires, not to mention the seals I found all over the District."

"Enough chakra for what?" Genki asked impatiently. I stared at him levelly.

"I've walked to Hi no Kuni before, Genki."

"You want us to _walk_?! Across the freaking ocean?" Genki hissed under his breath. "Did you forget that Hikari has a broken leg? And that the Karibi girl's chakra control is still screwed up from whatever she was poisoned with? And Rei is barely old enough to throw a kunai correctly! How do you expect her to walk on water for so long?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Genki. At the most, it is an eighty mile span of water. We should be able to cross it in less than two days."

"Not everyone with us is an Uzumaki, Suki. They don't have the-" Genki abruptly fell silent. "That's what the chakra storage seals are for."

"Yes. With a couple of days of rest, everyone who suffered from chakra exhaustion should be back to normal, or close to it thanks to the proximity to the All Seal. Everyone that's too injured to walk themselves by that time will be escorted by a clone powered by one of my time release chakra storage seals. And Rei will be with either myself or Yuriko the entire time."

"... We're really going to walk across the ocean?"

"It's the best we've got, unless you want to steal an unfamiliar vessel and hope no one catches on until we're in safe territory."

* * *

A/N:

Kind of not really a chapter at all... But it's posted quickly and I hope to get the next chapter posted later tonight or tomorrow so don't get too hot and bothered :)

Thank you, everyone who alerted/favorited/reviewed any of the last three chapters. I love each and every one of you x3

Till next time (which'll probably be in like an hour...)

Sue :)


	5. Chapter 4

A/N:

As promised, the next chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

After two days of rest, we were ready to leave. Despite Genki's warnings, I lead a three man team into the village to raid the stores for anything we could use, just to spite the villages that had ruined our home. Everything from books to food to everyday weapons to clothes was sealed securely into scrolls taken from the scroll depositories located around the Uzumaki District.

With the newly acquired supplies, I decided to change my outfit once more. Gone was the red orange battle kimono I wore as an apprentice. Now I wore a dark red sleeveless top and a black and red skirt that left my right leg almost entirely exposed. Instead of the standard shinobi sandals, I wore a knee length pair of black boots and added a pair of fingerless gloves. With my hitai-ate tied around my right thigh just above my shuriken and kunai holsters and my sealing pouch on my left hip, my outfit was complete. (A/N: Basically, picture Yuna's gun mage outfit from Final Fantasy X-2, change the colors, make the gloves fingerless, and put the hitai-ate plate on the black and white portion of the skirt on the left.)

"Does everyone understand the plan?" I asked in a low voice, facing the exit to the catacombs that we would use. Once out of the catacombs, we had a short dash to the shore and then the eight mile trip to mainland Hi no Kuni and then another seventy-something miles to Konoha. It would be hard but, with any luck, we'd be able to cross paths with a Konoha squad on our way in. We would make it.

"Hai," voices echoed behind me. Even without glancing back, I knew that each of the apprentices behind me were tensed and ready for anything.

"Koukyo," I said, getting the frog's attention. The golden frog was now as small as my hand and rested on my right shoulder. "Are the others in place?"

"The gauntlet's been set. If anyone gets without a quarter mile of you, they won't live much longer."

"Harimau?" Yuriko asked, looking to her left at her own summon. The large tiger, nearly five feet tall at the shoulder, rolled his shoulders.

"My kin are ready as well. As soon as the apprentices are cleared of the catacombs, they will converge around us," he reported, his baritone voice almost a purr as his paws kneaded the stone floor.

"This is either a really good plan, or suicide," Genki murmured, stepping close to my side. He'd been my unofficial second-in-command, having earned more loyalty from the other apprentices than Yuriko or I.

"You're not sure yet?" I asked wryly. He smirked but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Eh, I'll tell you once we're in Konoha," he decided. Glancing around, he added, "Looks like we're ready to go."

"Hai..." I turned around to face the apprentices and Yuriko, clearing my throat. Silence fell slowly and I took a deep breath. "I'll get right to it. If Uzushio is to have any hope of recovery, of a future, we need to stay strong and we need to stay together. Once we leave the Catacombs, I am relying on everyone here to keep their senses sharp. We have a path cleared, but I don't want any stupid, careless mistakes. We watch each others' backs, we move as one unit, and we leave no one behind. The people around you are your comrades, your sisters, your brothers. Any bad blood between you that you've had with anyone else here is gone. It does not exist. Today will be one of the longest days of our lives; we need to be able to trust each other to get through it. Am I understood?"

"Hai, Suki-sama," a few of the apprentices said halfheartedly. I clenched my fists, turning to face the dark tunnel once more.

"Ikimashou!"

And we were off running.

* * *

It was a mad dash across the ocean, but we hadn't lost anyone and I even had a few chakra storage seals left over. Once we hit landfall, and were in Hi no Kuni territory, the risk of attack decreased dramatically and our small contingent began to move just a little slower, keeping an eye out for any Konoha patrols or teams. It wasn't until the fourth day, though, that we were lucky enough to cross paths with a Konoha team.

I had been finishing the latest watch and was preparing to wake the others when I heard it, the telltale whistling of a kunai in flight. Whipping out a kunai of my own, I threw the blade with practiced care to intercept the incoming knife, pulling out my tanto.

"Whoever you are, you _really_ don't want to get on my bad side right now," I growled, forcing my voice to stay strong. I was tired, but hopefully my opponent wouldn't be able to see that in the pre-dawn darkness.

"What is a contingent of shinobi doing so far into Konoha territory?" a distorted voice asked, echoing throughout the trees. My comrades, exhausted from their journey, slept on.

"I don't generally discuss my plans with a faceless enemy."

At that, there was a low laugh and a trio of- if I had to guess- young jounin, all about my age, appeared on a tree limb close by. They were all very different looking, I noted, though they all wore the same uniform, a dark flak jacket with dark blue pants and sandals. There were two boys, one with long shaggy white hair who sported red lines that extended from below his eyes while the second was very pale with long black hair with snakelike yellow eyes that were oddly accented by a purple slash across his eyelids. The girl stared at me with wary brown eyes, her long blonde hair in a high ponytail. Spotting their hitai-ates, I lowered my blade.

"We are refugees, going to Konoha seeking shelter."

"And why would Konoha extend such a welcome?" the one in the middle, a tall and pale boy with yellow eyes that stared straight into mine. I reached to the necklace I still wore, undoing it quickly and holding it up for the trio to see. The girl's eyes widened.

"Oro, that's-"

"Hn," the boy dismissed. The girl glared lightly in the direction of her teammate but one of her hands went to her neck. Even from the distance we were faced with, I recognized the necklace as Senju Hashirama's.

"Senju?" I asked, surprised.

"Why do you have that necklace? That was given to Uzushio's leader by my grandfather, the Shodai Hokage," the girl asked sharply. I stared at her levelly.

"I am Uzushio's leader. This group you see before you is what remains of Uzushio, Senju-hime. We were attacked four days ago and the village fell."

"You're their leader?" the young man on the right, with the white hair, blurted out, as if he had been wanting to speak for quite some time.

"Yes, I am," I answered succinctly. The man in the middle stared at me thoughtfully for a long moment before speaking again.

"We'll escort them to Konoha. Sensei can handle it from there."

"Oi, teme, just because-" The white haired man's tirade was cut off quickly by a sharp look from his teammate.

"Sensei made me captain of this mission, Jiraiya. You will follow my orders or be brought before the Council for insubordination," he said coolly before jumping down before me. Not sensing a threat, I sheathed my tanto. "When will your subordinates be ready to leave?"

"A few hours. We barely stopped since leaving Uzushio, so I was going to let them sleep. I doubted we'd be attacked this far into Konoha territory."

"Then you don't know?" the man asked sharply as his teammates joined him on the ground. His expression became even more serious. "War has been declared. I doubt you will find any place quite as safe as it once was."

"War? Against whom?" I asked, shocked. The girl responded, her eyes sad.

"It's Konoha against Iwa and Suna. Ame is already being invaded and supplies have been moving for weeks."

"A preemptive strike," I realized aloud. The three looked at me oddly. "The attack on Uzushio was lead by Iwa with Ame and Suna support. If there's a war... They must not have wanted Konoha to be able to call on Uzushio's help as they did in the last Great Shinobi War."

"Sensei won't be happy to hear that," the man with white hair groaned. "It's already been enough of a pain to-"

"Not here," his captain interrupted sharply. "We're in open territory and too far from Konoha. If there's a chance that they've been followed here, there's a chance that the enemy is listening."

"There's no way we were followed," I said, shaking my head. "I've had frogs surrounding us since before we first left the island."

"Frogs?" the white haired man perked up. I nodded.

"My summons, poison dart frogs." He grinned happily.

"That's awesome! I'm more of a toad person, though," he grinned. I sighed tiredly, which the girl of the team noticed.

"Get some rest. You look like you haven't slept in days. Oro, Jiraiya, and I will keep watch."

"I appreciate it," I said honestly. The girl smiled kindly.

"Sensei wouldn't be very happy if we let anything happen to you all. I'm Tsunade by the way. This is Orochimaru, and the obnoxious one is Jiraiya."

"Uzumaki Suki."

"Nice to meet you, Suki."

"Yes, _very_ nice," Jiraiya laughed quietly.

I would have responded- likely by hitting the man- but I was already well on my way to sleep.

* * *

A/N:

A bit longer AND you meet the Sannin. Good quality update to me. And, for the record, Jiraiya won't learn his lesson about keeping his inner pervert hidden around Suki.

All the jokes xD

Anyway, hope you guys are having a good day and such.

Sue


	6. Chapter 5

A/N:

Hey, it's me again.

First off, I'd like to apologize for my head-canon aside to get taken down, since I know that some people actually read that and wished for me to continue it. As such, I've started up a forum that will be dedicated to the posting of all of that information.

For the record, I still don't own really anything. Except my headcanon stuff.

* * *

I never would have been able to guess how much that chance meeting that day in Hi no Kuni would change my life. I did, however, get just an inkling after my party arrived in Konoha. While I would be staying with Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya while they gave their mission report, the others would be staying in the rather lavish Uzumaki compound, a tower in the middle of a quiet forested training ground a small distance away from the rest of the village. Orochimaru and the others personally escorted us to the tower, talking about the rumors that circulated around the tower. Based on what I pieced together, various Uzumakis had worked together to make a sealing array based off of the All Seal that defended the entire area even more than the tall fences around it. The seal would also prevent certain people from going into specific areas or floors of the tower, protecting the clan's privacy from all but its most trusted friends.

The tower was something to see. Sections of it were built in familiar stone, but large portions of it was a colorful array of wood, painted red or green, and metal. There were balconies and windows of all different sizes covering the outer wall, some tinted darker than others or shuttered for more privacy. It was a patchwork home, something perfect for the mix of families brought from Uzushio.

Leaving Yuriko to help the apprentices with the tower's basic functions and start to get settled, I left with Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya to meet with the Hokage. The trip to the Hokage Tower was faster than I anticipated, leaving no room for awkward small talk, something that I appreciated.

"Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya here to report a B-ranked mission," Orochimaru announced to the secretary. She blushed lightly, causing me to scowl, before waving us in.

"I absolutely despise fan girls," I grumbled under my breath. Jiraiya nodded sagely and I scowled at him. "You only agree with me because you don't have any fan girls."

"Hey! You don't know me," Jiraiya pouted. I raised an eyebrow.

"If you had fan girls, you definitely would not have been trying to flirt with me the entire way here because you would have been sick of the attention. Judging by what you've shown me so far, you're simply in denial, still thinking that you're a ladies' man."

Tsunade did her best to turn her laugh into a cough, but she wasn't exactly successful. Jiraiya's shoulders slumped and he stared at the ground sadly, murmuring to himself.

Orochimaru shook his head, closing his eyes as if he had a headache, and knocked on the office door. A voice called for us to enter and the door opened.

The inside of the Hokage's office was bright and just a little crowded. Stacks of paperwork were placed here and there, occasionally ruffling dangerously in the slight breeze from the open window. At the old looking desk sat a man probably in his early or mid thirties. He had short, dark brown, and spiky hair with a small goatee. From beneath his eyes extended short black markings. He wasn't very spectacular looking, but I knew who this was without a doubt.

"Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru bowed his head. I tried very hard to hide my surprise that, for all this time, I was in the presence of the Hokage's students. "Our mission was successfully completed, though we did run into bandits led by missing nin Abe Hakuta. He and the bandits were neutralized without any injury to ourselves, the merchant, or the goods, and we arrived at our destination on time. Details will be in the written mission report."

"Good," Sarutobi Hiruzen stated, sounding a little distracted. He looked behind Orochimaru, spotting me. "And who might you be?"

I resisted the urge to swallow, refusing to show weakness. I was a village leader. It might be a broken village, but it still existed.

"Uzumaki Suki, Hokage-sama." I held my necklace to the light. "Current leader of the remains of Uzushiogakure."

"The remains?" At once, any good humor in Hiruzen's eyes vanished. I nodded seriously. Tsunade decided to speak.

"We met Suki and the rest of the remaining shinobi on our way back. We thought it was best if you spoke to her, sensei."

"I was told that Konoha is facing a war. Is that right?" I asked. Hiruzen nodded tiredly.

"Yes. Suna has accused Konoha of abducting their Sandaime Kazekage and Iwa decided to divide our attention by opening a second front, assuming they can break through Ame."

"I was afraid of that. They won't face much opposition from Ame's leaders. Are you familiar with the mastery gaining rituals of Uzushiogakure, Hokage-sama?"

"Tsunade's grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, had spoken to me about your traditions. You study a sealing array until you understand its basic mechanics."

"In a way, yes. Prior to the attack on Uzushio, I went to obtain my mastery. As tradition dictated, I went before the All Seal and studied it until, as you said, I understood its mechanics. The All Seal is more than just a single array, though. It is dozens and dozens of individual and delicate seals interlocked in such a way that not one can be destroyed without causing the failure of the whole. Through a number of protection wards, I was made aware of an invasion force. This force, made of approximately three hundred and twenty enemy shinobi, invaded our island, laid siege to Uzushio, and took control. Over the course of three days, our total population was reduced from just over five hundred men, women, and children to just twenty-six known individuals, including myself."

Tsunade gave a small gasp beside me, one hand covering her mouth in horror. Orochimaru closed his eyes again and Jiraiya stared at me with something akin to pity. The Hokage bore a grim expression.

"The assault was led largely by Iwa, but strongly supported by Ame and Suna. From what I understand, your enemies did not want to chance Konoha asking for support from Uzushio as you did in the last war. Instead of risking us coming in later, at full force, they intended to destroy Uzushio completely in a preemptive strike. Ame might not fight directly in this war, but they will not hinder Iwa's forces as they march on to Hi no Kuni."

"An entire village, destroyed," Hiruzen said softly. He stared at me with a sadness in his eyes. "Were you able to complete your funeral rites?"

"No. All of the bodies we recovered are still sealed, as well as their hitai-ates. The All Seal is sealed as well, currently in the capable hands of the only other master left to Uzushio, Uzumaki Yuriko. I was hoping to be able to lay them to rest here in Konoha."

"That is something I can grant. I trust that my team has shown your comrades to the Uzumaki compound?"

"They have, Hokage-sama."

"Good. I will have an advisement sent out among the shinobi that the tower is being occupied once more so that you are not disturbed by any teams looking for a secluded place to train."

"You won't have to worry about that. I'll be sure to adjust the perimeter wards to discourage unwanted intruders."

"You can do that?" Jiraiya asked curiously. I nodded at him, knowing that the young man was interested in fuinjutsu. He had learned some from the elder toads, but he was nowhere near my level of experience.

"And much more."

Silence fell in the office for a short time as the Hokage studied me closely. After a minute, he looked to his team.

"Tsunade, are there injuries amongst Uzumaki-sama's subordinates?"

"There were a few broken bones, but they've already been healed or are mostly there. I haven't seen such a high rate of regrowth in a human until meeting Uzumaki Hikari. She had a broken leg, but it healed with minimal care after it was set."

"Uzumakis are renowned for their endurance and fast healing. It was thought to be a kekkai genkai by neighboring lands," Sarutobi told her. I smiled dryly.

"It has very little to do with blood. It is true that Uzumakis generally are born with larger chakra reserves and relatively dense muscles, but most of that comes from the All Seal. As we have been traveling with the All Seal for a week now, the proximity helped speed chakra restoration and healing."

"This All Seal sounds intriguing," Orochimaru noted.

"It is Uzushio's most precious treasure, more so than any weapon or jutsu we've developed, as well as the oldest known piece of fuinjutsu in existence. It has been protected by the Uzumaki and their satellite clans since before the warring period, long before any of the great villages were founded. It is a piece of fuinjutsu that I shall destroy before it is taken from my people." I realized how cool my voice became and I cleared my throat. Moving the subject into less dangerous matters, the Hokage spoke.

"Uzumaki-sama, I will call you back to ask more about the attack and how you all escaped, but for now return to your comrades. Tsunade, I want you to escort a team of medic nin to examine the survivors and record the names of the survivors. I know of more than one family here in Konoha that had relatives in Uzushio and I want them to be able to know who made it to safely and who did not."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Hokage-sama, but we have been an independent people for far too long and there is much information that can be gained from a thorough physical exam. I can provide you with a list of names easily, but I can't allow an entire team of medic nin to become so familiar with our practices."

"Will you allow Tsunade to complete the exams?" His voice was slightly strained, as if he hadn't expected me to reject his course of action. After thinking on it, I nodded.

"That will be fine... I want you to understand, Hokage-sama, that I do not mistrust you. We have simply lost too much already. The tattoos across the bodies of each apprentice, as well as my own and Yuriko-san's, are all seals or representative of something more significant than any Konoha medical nin can recognize. Some of them are extremely personal. To have them documented by a stranger would be more humiliating than you might think."

"I see."

"Then why can Tsunade see them?" Jiraiya asked boisterously. I glanced over at him before looking at Tsunade.

"As a descendant of Uzumaki Mito, Tsunade carries Uzumaki blood through her veins. With so little Uzumaki blood left in the world, it is important for us to recognize each stem of our family tree. I would trust Tsunade, even as an unrecognized clanmate, to use her judgment when she records these exams."

"We're related?" Tsunade asked, surprised. I nodded, smiling softly.

"Your grandmother was a prominent member of the Uzumaki clan before she was transferred to Konoha at the time of her engagement to Senju Hashirama. Logics dictates that we are related. But yes, we are distant cousins."

"Really?" Tsunade asked, a curious gleam in her eyes. I nodded, about to respond when the Hokage beat me to the chase.

"Uzumaki-sama, you may return to your people. Tsunade, do not forget to complete the physical exams. I expect them done and on my desk by the end of next week. Orochimaru, make sure that the written mission report is finished and handed in the mission desk as protocol. And Jiraiya..." The Hokage seemed at a loss for words, especially when Jiraiya perked up, ready for orders. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"Uzumaki-sama, you may return to your people. Tsunade, do not forget to complete the physical exams. I expect them done and on my desk by the end of next week. Orochimaru, make sure that the written mission report is finished and handed in the mission desk as protocol. And Jiraiya..." The Hokage seemed at a loss for words, especially when Jiraiya perked up, ready for orders. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"Arigatou, Hokage-sama, for your patience and understanding. Tsunade, feel free to come to the tower anytime you like."

"I should be free sometime in the next few days," Tsunade said with a thoughtful look on her face. "I have to look into my hospital schedule first."

"Of course," I nodded. Looking once more to the Hokage, I bowed my head respectfully before turning and leaving the room. As soon as the door closed behind me, I dashed out of the nearest window and ran over the rooftops towards the Uzumaki compound.

* * *

A/N:

Since, inevitably, someone is going to bring it up, I _did_ play around with Orochimaru trying to steal or study the All Seal to try to duplicate it and I found that makes Orochimaru a little too unfairly spectacular. So, no. Orochimaru isn't getting his hands on the All Seal any time soon. Maybe in a sequel ;)

Sue


End file.
